Advancing Racial Justice through Civil and Criminal Academic Medical-Legal Partnerships

Abstract

The medical-legal partnership (MLP) model, which brings attorneys and healthcare partners together to remove legal barriers to health, is a growing approach to addressing unmet civil legal needs. But MLPs are less prevalent in criminal defense settings, where they also have the potential to advance both health and legal justice. In fact, grave racial health inequities are deeply intertwined with both civil and criminal injustice. In both spheres, health justice is racial justice. Building on the experiences of the authors in their respective civil and criminal law school clinics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., this Article argues that academic medical-legal partnerships provide a unique vehicle for advancing racial justice by training future leaders in law and healthcare to understand, address, and dismantle intertwined health inequities and injustice across both civil and criminal legal systems.

Keywords: health law and policy, medical-legal partnership, clinical education, racial equity, health equity, racial justice

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K32